Number of S. Korean newborns declines in March

By Koh Byung-joon
SEOUL, May 25 (Yonhap) -- The number of newborns in South Korea continued to
decline in March from a year earlier amid an upward tendency for people to delay
marriage and have fewer babies, a government report showed Monday.

According to the report by the National Statistical Office, the number of
newborns totaled 39,900 in March, down 1,400 or 3.4 percent from a year earlier.
The March figure marked the 13th consecutive month of decline. The number of
birth has been falling as people have increasingly tended to put off weddings or
have fewer babies if they do get married, experts said.
The number of marriages dropped 9.5 percent to 25,800 in March, while the number
of deaths totaled 21,000 in the month, down 7.1 percent from a year ago, the
report showed.
Divorces also declined, with 10,600 couples filing for divorce in March, down 5.9
percent from the same month a year earlier.
Meanwhile, population mobility slowed amid a protracted economic slowdown. The
report showed that 705,000 people changed their legal residence in April, down
10.3 percent from a year earlier.
kokobj@yna.co.kr
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